New Pictures

LEAVING THE HOSPITAL

(Three days old)

The girls first introduction to their little brother. All three of them had been sick earlier last week and weren't allowed on the Maternity floor. We had some really disappointed kids...especially Heidi who had taken off of school so she could go to Anchorage for the baby's arrival.

Heidi, my nurturing and mothering child.

Jessica, all serious and down to business. She knows exactly what the baby needs and wants!

Craig James at 6 days old-a rare awake moment. Now that he's got his tummy full, life is good. He's just eating, sleeping and pooping!

Natalie's point of view. Her "Bebee." Natalie is enthralled with her new little brother. You can see how hard she tries to be nice, but sometimes it just comes out-her orneriness. Craig is going to have to get used to all the maulings that he'll get in the coming days.

After Craig's first bath at home-hair all slicked down and wide awake.

Drum ROLL.......

It's a....

7# 3 oz., 19 inch long......

BOY

Craig James was born at 8:01 AM Thursday, November 12th. He is healthy and has been checked out extensively by the pediatrician and cardiologist. I had a little rougher time around this time with the c-section, but am doing much better today. All I can say is that I hate IV narcotics! Just give me Toradol and Percocet and I do much better.

Craig has a lovely pinkish/red complexion with eyebrows and eyelashes so light that you can't hardly see them. His hair is silvery blonde. I think we're going to have a toe-head on our hands with this one. He's been very laid back (he's going to have to get some spunk if he's going to survive his three older sisters.) and hasn't been interested much in nursing until today. He looks like our baby and fits in well with the rest of the babies in our family.

It's been so nice to snuggle with my baby and just experience all the "normal" things about newborns this time around. I did have a few tears during and after his birth with all the memories of Natalie's traumatic experience right after birth. But God is so good! I felt absolutely aweful after Craig was born and can't imagine what it would have been like if I'd felt that badly after Natalie was born and then she crashed. I know that my comprehension and involvement would have been a lot different. I felt pretty good after Natalie was born so was able to be up in the wheelchair in the NICU before they transferred her to Seattle.

Heidi, Jess and Natalie all had fever and sore throats with a cough earlier this week so they haven't been able to see their little brother. They're really disappointed. Grandpa and Grandma from Michigan have been a good diversion.

Well, it's time to eat. I'll post more pictures later.

Bear

While I was in Seattle with Natalie getting her g-tube removed the beginning of September, Tim took Heidi and Jessica hunting with him. They had a blast and the highlite of their trip was when their dad shot a big brown bear. It was a three year old six footer that was eating a caribou carcass that was about 150 yards off the road.

Below is Heidi posing with the bear. Tim with his bear.

Heidi and Jess with their Uncle Tod, Tim's brother.

Tim has many bear stories...like the one where he got pinned with his face in the ground by a dead bear, or the one when he broke his ankle and fell just as a huge sow jumped him and she totally missed him. (Tim said that God tripped him to save his life.) Growing up in bush Alaska he's got many such stories.

Hunting

Hunting for moose and caribou is not only a tradition for our family and many other Alaskan's but a way of life. The meat we eat is mainly moose, caribou and salmon with a little chicken thrown in there sometimes. There are many benefits to the lean game meat even though it is red meat.

My husband has grown up hunting and probably was given a gun on his second birthday. He has many stories of hunting with his father and brother. In his single life, he was a hunting and fishing maniac. We have a head and shoulder's moose mount on our livingroom wall with a Boone and Crocket world record spread of 70." When I married Tim, I knew that it was inevitable that we would have animal heads on our walls. Our house was designed around that 70" moose. And although he has gotten many Dahl Sheep, bear and caribou worthy of displaying, the moose has been the only one (so far) that has made it on display. I'd have to say that my husband is quite humble when it comes to his hunting accomplishments. He has many stories that could have made quite an exciting TV program, but he's not one to go around bragging about them.

This year's moose was a little over 50," but according to Tim, it was the biggest looking 50 incher that he's ever seen. We have been thankful that the Lord has provided at least a half of a moose for us every year...no we don't go out and shoot half a moose. Sometimes, we "share" with family and friends.

Part of the success that my husband and their family has is due to the fact that they use horses to hunt with. They are able to go farther into the bush than some and go places where motorized vehicles are not allowed. Tim didn't ride this year as he had just had a hip replacement in June, but instead walked the 18 miles that it took to go in and get the moose and then make the two trips to bring him back out! At least the horses were the ones doing the packing!

It seems like the kill is the easiest. Then comes all the hard work of packing the moose out, getting it home and cutting up and processing it. We do all of our meat processing. I come to dread it more every year, but have to say that the hours of helping my husband cut and package meat affords us some quality communication time. (Maybe my dread has to do with the fact that I have either been pregnant or had a nursing child the past 6 years of hunting season. Sights and smells and back-breaking labor...) We cut up roasts, grind our own hamburger and can some of the meat. This year we made some Italian and breakfast sausage too. It is a good feeling to know that we have a freezer packed for the winter.
Natalie, Jess and I posing with the moose antlers from this year.

Natalie was so cute to watch feeding Lady. She would pull hay out of the bales and run it over to her one handful at a time. She wasn't intimidated by the big horses like she was last year.

I probably should mention that these pictures were taken of Tim's hunt in the middle of September. Our Fall starts in August and this year it was beautiful. The yellow leaves lasted a long time, but were gone by the end of September.

Bored?

I had to write this one down...
We were coming home in the car and Jessica (almost 5 in Jan) said, "Mommy, I'm bored."
I replied, "Are you a stick?"
"No, I'm bored!"
Then I went into a long explanation to explain my sarcasm. The boards that you use to build things are made of wood and so are sticks, so if you're board, you are a stick!
Jessie's closing comment, "But the boards get to hang out with the screws and have fun! I never get to have fun!"
She never ceases to amaze me!

Three Month Review

I know, it's been forever since I've posted a comment. Summer and Fall in Alaska seem to just fly by and being pregnant hasn't helped me be as productive as I had hoped to be. I think I'll start from today and go backwards.

This picture is of our family "picinic" in the woods today. Tim went out to cut wood and we joined him later. It was fun roasting hot dogs and having s'mores. Jessie had been looking forward to this time for days as her father had promised her that he would either take her hunting for caribou again (which didn't happen) or we would go on a picinic.

Well, this was posted by Natalie, believe it or not. She gets herself into trouble quite frequently these days. I wasn't done with it, but need to finish supper and get the girls ready for bed. So guess this will be "to be continued..."

Creative Capers

Natalie's first "Pebble's" hair-do.
Can you imagine what the auto insurance is going to be in another 10 years?

Natalie found the mud first...then the dog food.

Sometimes I feel like I'd like to pull my hair out for the sake of my kid's "creativity."

This morning started out with Heidi and Jessie "washing" the Suburban with wet, dirty brooms. Of course, the vehicle needed it, but I'm not sure they helped the situation out a whole lot. I can't fault them for their desire to help though. I found both of them on TOP of the Suburban...Heidi on the roof and Jessie on the hood...making sure they got every square inch! Argh! It wasn't even 10am yet.

Then came the next feat in Natalie's need to conquer. I heard her breathing hard as I was helping Jess with something in the living room. I looked over to the kitchen and there is Natalie with the biggest smile on her face on top of the kitchen bar counter! She had climbed up a step stool that was left beside the counter and made it onto the counter. She did her little victory dance up there before I could get over and bring her out of the clouds.

Good thing we had a deadline for lunch-when Tim comes home from work-otherwise it would have been a lot later.

Heidi and Jess's love affair with water continued when I sent them out to water the flowers. I should have known that they just couldn't resist playing in the water. The squeals brought me back out to check on them only to find that they had a five gallon bucket FULL to the brim with COLD water and they are taking turns sitting in it. "No harm" I think because the sun had come out and it was warming up. But in-between phone calls I check on them again and you guessed it-they're both naked. Why?! "My clothes were all wet!" "Duh!!!" So I get them their swimming suites....only to find them naked again in about 15 minutes. This time they had to go to the bathroom. (They availed themselves of the outside facilities-bushes. Good thing this isn't the middle of Anchorage.) Jessie's excuse was that she couldn't get her suite back on! I'm not sure Heidi had an excuse, but I'm sure she was trying to give me one.

I'd had enough, so quiet time it was. Not yet..."I'm cold. Can we have some hot chocolate?" was the cry. Well who could blame them? All that playing and cold water was bound to get them cold and hungry. Hot chocolate and a snack it was and then to lay down and be quiet.

Supper came and went. But it seems like Heidi and Jess hadn't gotten enough water therapy yet because I found them in the bathroom with a whole bucket of nuts (with the shells on them) in the sink filled with water! Heidi, who had asked to play "nicely" with the nuts, adamantly said it wasn't her idea-all Jessie's, I guess! At this point, I told Tim in a very stressed tone, "If my girls come up with one more creative idea today, I'm going to pull my hair out!!! What am I thinking having another one? I can't handle the ones I've got!"

So my day went. Now as I sit at the computer smelling like cut grass and mower exhaust desperately needing a shower, I realize that I did get a few things done today. The laundry is still in the washer and dryer, but my kids are peacefully sleeping in bed. They are healthy, fed, and now clothed.

I can ponder God's graces in allowing me to experience these creative capers. A year ago today, I was in Seattle for Natalie's second open-heart surgery. These experiences in life make us who we are. (Right now I feel like a frazzled mother.) Thank you God, for these treasures that you have entrusted to my care. May they use ALL of their creative talents for YOU!